Clay County Jail Roster Overview
The Clay County Sheriff's Office operates the Clay County Jail in Brazil, Indiana. The jail is the only confirmed detention facility in Clay County, and it also appears as an ICE detention facility for immigration detainees. The official county sheriff page on IN.gov identifies Sheriff Brison Swearingen and promotes the Clay County Sheriff's Office (IN) mobile app by QR code. A separate sheriff domain has indicated that a new website is coming and points users toward a current-inmates path, but the fields and destination of that roster could not be inspected. Because of that research gap, no normal public web roster or verified public mugshot gallery should be treated as confirmed.
A Clay County inmate lookup works best as a chain rather than a single search box. Start with the sheriff's app and the sheriff's phone line for local custody. Use Indiana MyCase to confirm criminal charges and court events after an arrest. Use the Indiana Department of Correction locator for people who have moved from county jail into state prison. Use VINELink for custody notification, the Federal Bureau of Prisons locator for sentenced federal inmates, and ICE's Online Detainee Locator System or the ICE Clay County Jail facility page for immigration custody. Each system answers a different question, so the same person may appear in one place and not another.
How to Use the Clay County Inmate Roster
The official web roster could not be inspected, so the practical route is to use the Clay County Sheriff's Office (IN) app first and then confirm through direct contact or a records request. The app is distributed through the OCV share page, Google Play, and the Apple App Store. App listings describe public safety news, crime reporting, and tip submission. They do not provide a web-readable inmate roster that can be verified from the page source, so treat the app as an official access channel, not proof that every inmate field is publicly displayed online.
- Open the Clay County Sheriff's Office (IN) app through the OCV share page or the app store for the device being used.
- Look for any current-inmates, jail, detention, or custody option inside the official app. Search by name if the app provides a searchable inmate function.
- If the app does not confirm the person, call the Clay County Sheriff's Office non-emergency number at 812-446-2535 and ask whether jail staff can verify current custody or explain the proper records-request route.
- For a written record, send or deliver an Indiana Access to Public Records Act request to the Clay County Sheriff's Office at 611 East Jackson Street, Brazil, IN 47834. Ask for the specific jail booking or inmate record by name, date of birth if known, booking date if known, and the kind of record needed.
- Check Indiana MyCase for criminal-case filings, charges, hearings, bond entries, and disposition information. MyCase is a court system, not a jail-custody roster, but it often explains why the person was booked.
- If the person may have been sentenced or transferred, search the Indiana DOC offender locator. For immigration custody, use ICE ODLS or the ICE Clay County Jail facility page. For federal prison custody, use the BOP inmate locator.
Clay County Roster Search Fields
The Clay County web roster fields could not be inspected, so the safest field inventory separates confirmed access routes from unverified web-form assumptions. A person trying to find someone in the Clay County Jail should gather enough identifiers to help jail staff or the app distinguish between similar names. Name, approximate booking date, date of birth, and case information from MyCase are more useful than a single last-name search when the public interface is unavailable or unclear.
| Field or Route | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last name | Name identifier | Usually needed | Useful in the sheriff app, by phone, and in APRA requests. Spelling variants can affect results. |
| First name | Name identifier | Recommended | Helps separate people with the same surname and supports court-record cross-checks in MyCase. |
| Date of birth or age | Identity detail | Recommended when known | Do not guess. Include only if accurate, especially in a public-records request. |
| Booking date or arrest date | Date range | Optional | Useful when asking jail staff to locate a recent intake or archived booking record. |
| Case number | Court reference | Optional | Found through Indiana MyCase when charges have been filed. It does not replace jail custody confirmation. |
| Facility | Custody location | Usually Clay County Jail | Clay County Jail is the only confirmed detention facility in the county and is also listed by ICE. |
| Web roster field list | Unverified | Not confirmed | The official web roster destination and fields could not be inspected, so no specific public form fields are claimed. |
What a Clay County Inmate Profile Shows
Because the Clay County public roster interface was not inspectable, a sample profile inventory should be read as the kinds of fields commonly requested from a jail booking record or checked across official systems, not as a verified Clay County web display. Indiana's Access to Public Records Act can support requests for non-confidential records, while Indiana Code 5-14-3-4 allows law enforcement to withhold investigatory material in some circumstances. Court events and charge captions should be verified in MyCase rather than inferred from jail status alone.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Full name | The identity used by the jail or court record. Use spelling from official records when making requests. |
| Booking number | A jail control number if one is released or provided by staff. It helps identify a specific booking event. |
| Booking date | The date the person was processed into jail custody. It may differ from the arrest date or first court date. |
| Arresting agency | The agency associated with the arrest or hold, if released. It may be local, state, federal, or immigration-related. |
| Charges | Alleged offenses or hold reasons. Court-filed charges should be confirmed through Indiana MyCase. |
| Bond amount or hold status | Whether a bond entry, no-bond hold, warrant hold, probation hold, or agency hold applies, when released. |
| Housing or facility | The custody location if public. Clay County has one confirmed jail facility, but ICE custody can also be associated with that jail. |
| Custody status | Whether the person is listed as in custody, released, transferred, or otherwise no longer in the local jail's current population. |
| Booking photo | A photo may exist in a booking file, but no official Clay County public mugshot gallery was verified. |
Finding County, State, and Federal Inmates
Clay County Jail records are local jail records. They are not the same as state prison records, federal prison records, immigration detainee records, or court records. Someone arrested in Brazil or elsewhere in Clay County may begin in the county jail, appear in MyCase once charges are filed, and later disappear from local jail custody after release, transfer, sentencing, or removal to another agency. The lookup path should follow the legal custody path.
| Custody | Where to Look | What It Can Confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-trial or local sentence | Sheriff app, sheriff phone, or APRA request to Clay County Sheriff's Office | Current or historical local jail booking information, subject to public-record limits. |
| Court charges after arrest | Indiana MyCase | Filed criminal cases, hearings, charges, bonds, warrants, and dispositions once entered by the court. |
| Custody notification | VINELink Indiana | Notification and custody-status information for participating Indiana custody agencies. |
| Sentenced state prisoner | Indiana Department of Correction locator | State prison custody, IDOC number, location, and sentence-related locator data when available. |
| Federal sentenced inmate | Federal BOP inmate locator | BOP custody or release information for federal sentenced inmates since 1982. |
| Immigration detainee | ICE ODLS and ICE facility information | ICE detainee-location information where searchable by A-number or biographical details. |
The Indiana VINELink/VINE portal is a separate notification route from a jail roster.
VINELink is useful when a custody-status alert matters, but a direct sheriff or court check may still be needed for detailed booking or case records.
Clay County Jail Facilities
The only confirmed detention facility in Clay County is Clay County Jail. It functions as the county jail and is also listed by ICE as a detention facility. No separate Clay County work-release center, Indiana state prison, Federal Bureau of Prisons facility, or standalone ICE detention center was confirmed in the county. That distinction matters because a missing local roster result may mean the person was released, transferred to IDOC, moved to federal custody, or held under ICE procedures at the same jail.
Clay County Jail
611 East Jackson Street
Brazil, IN 47834
Sheriff non-emergency: 812-446-2535
ICE detainee information: 812-448-9051 ext. 131, 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Booking Process in Clay County
A Clay County arrest can lead to jail intake, identity checks, property inventory, booking questions, classification, and placement in a housing area if the person remains in custody. Jail booking data does not decide guilt and does not always match the final court charge. A person may be arrested on a warrant, a new probable-cause allegation, a probation matter, an out-of-county hold, a federal matter, or an immigration detainer. Because the public roster could not be inspected, the timing of online display and removal is not confirmed.
After booking, court records become important. Indiana MyCase can show whether a prosecutor filed charges, whether the court set bond, whether a hearing occurred, and whether a warrant or no-contact order is part of the case. A jail can confirm custody status when permitted, but court records explain the case path. If the person is no longer in the Clay County Jail, check for release, transfer to another county, sentencing to IDOC, federal custody, or ICE detention. Do not assume a missing jail result means the arrest never happened.
Visitation Hours and Rules
Clay County Sheriff's public material did not provide a detailed local visitation schedule or a confirmed local video, phone, mail, or commissary vendor. For local inmates, call the sheriff's office or check the official app before traveling, sending mail, or depositing funds. For ICE detainees at Clay County Jail, the ICE facility page is the official source for detainee visitation and mail information. Local jail practices and ICE detainee procedures can differ even when the physical facility is the same.
| Custody Type | Schedule Status | Best Source |
|---|---|---|
| Local Clay County inmate | Detailed public schedule not confirmed | Call 812-446-2535 or check the official sheriff app. |
| ICE detainee at Clay County Jail | Use ICE facility instructions | Check the ICE Clay County Jail page or call the ICE detainee information line. |
| State prison inmate | Not a Clay County Jail visit | Use the IDOC facility and visitation rules after locating the person in IDOC. |
| Federal BOP inmate | Not a Clay County Jail visit | Use the BOP facility shown in the BOP locator. |
How to Contact a Clay County Inmate
For local Clay County Jail inmates, begin with the Clay County Sheriff's Office because the research did not confirm a public vendor schedule for mail, telephone accounts, remote video visits, or commissary deposits. Ask jail staff or the app for the current inmate mail format, rules for envelopes and contents, whether a booking number is required, and how to avoid rejected mail. If the person is an ICE detainee, use the ICE facility page and the ICE information line at 812-448-9051 ext. 131 during the published 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. window.
For written public records, use Indiana's Access to Public Records Act, IC 5-14-3. A request should identify the record sought and the person as specifically as possible. IC 5-14-3-8 addresses copying fees, and IC 5-14-3-9 covers denial authority and response requirements. Some law-enforcement material can be withheld as investigatory under IC 5-14-3-4, so a request for a full internal file may not produce every document created during an arrest or investigation.
Commissary and Inmate Funds
No confirmed Clay County Sheriff's public page listed a detailed commissary vendor, deposit fee table, or local inmate fund procedure. Confirm custody first, then ask the sheriff's office or official app for the current deposit route. If the person has already left Clay County Jail, money sent to the wrong system may not reach them, and the correct process may be IDOC, BOP, or another agency's deposit system. ICE detainee property and money rules should be checked through official ICE facility instructions rather than assumed from local inmate procedures.
Note: Confirm current custody with Clay County Jail before scheduling a visit, mailing property, or sending money.
State, Federal, and ICE Locator Screens
The Indiana DOC locator is the correct search path when a Clay County case has resulted in a state-prison commitment.
IDOC records should not be confused with a current Clay County Jail roster because they cover state correctional custody after sentencing or transfer.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator is the separate route for sentenced federal inmates.
A federal locator result does not mean the person is or was held in Clay County Jail. It only identifies the federal custody path when BOP has the record.